Project Management and WBS: Control Accounts and the Monitoring/Controlling Process Group

Modifying a WBS

You and your spouse have purchased a foreclosure you hope to flip for a profit. The two bathrooms had been recently remodeled by the previous owners. The three bedrooms need only cosmetic work – something you decide to undertake yourself. The majority of your budget will be used for remodeling the kitchen, the dining room, and the family room.

Since this is your first flip, you’ve hired an experienced home inspector to help you scope the project. You want to track costs carefully to stay as close to budget as possible and to give you an accurate baseline for similar work in future flips. Rather than doing a hierarchical decomposition of the project into various products/outcomes and then adding work package descriptors for each lowest-level product/outcome, you chose to list the components that needed work and then describe the work that must be completed for each of these components. NOTE: You’ve described the work that must be completed for each of the components using action-oriented phrases. For the purposes of this question, assume these are work package descriptors and that these work package descriptors are NOT decomposed into lower level elements.

Some of the work may have to take a higher priority if cost issues arise during the renovation. The higher priority work includes modifications to the electrical, HVAC, and plumbing systems, removal of two walls to provide an open concept arrangement, and common flooring throughout the kitchen, family room, and dining room areas. The remaining work and quality of finishes in the kitchen, dining room, and/or family room may have to be reduced if the cost of the higher priority work becomes an issue.

1. Modify the WBS to add the seven control accounts listed above. DO NOT make any other changes to any WBS elements.
 
2. Once the control accounts are added, complete numbering the work breakdown structure in a hierarchical manner. You want your scheduling software to roll up work package costs to these control accounts.
 
NOTE: Your WBS must not violate any WBS core characteristics except as noted above with respect to work package descriptors.

Other Related WBS Questions

2With respect to the WBS numbering system, which of the following statements is true?
A. The numbering system is a unique identifier known as the code of accounts, which is used to track the costs of the WBS elements.
B. The numbering system is a unique identifier known as the code of accounts, which is used to track time and resource assignments for individual work elements.
C. The numbering system is a unique identifier known as the WBS dictionary, which is used to assign quality control codes to the individual work elements.
D. The numbering system is a unique identifier known as the WBS dictionary, which is used to track the descriptions of individual work elements.
 
3. Which WBS elements should ultimately be assigned resources, durations, and logical relationships?

Assigning Resources, Durations, and Relationships

A. All WBS elements
B. All work packages
C. All elements at the X.X level, (e.g., 1.1, 1.2, etc.)
D. All elements at the X.X.X level (e.g., 2.1.1, 2.1.2, etc.)
E. All elements at the X.X.X.X level (e.g. 1.1.1.1, 1.1.2.1, etc.)
 
4. All of the following statements are true all of the time except:

A. A WBS is created using a technique called decomposition.
B. Decomposition divides products/outcomes into smaller components until the work package level is reached.
C. Products/outcomes are always listed at the top level of the WBS.
D. Decomposition requires a degree of expert judgment and also requires a close analysis of the project scope statement.

Scenario:

You have been asked to lead a discussion group on project monitoring/controlling activities within your organization. You consult the PMBOK and find that it indicates the monitoring and controlling process group “…consists of those processes required to track, review, and orchestrate the progress and performance of the project; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes”. The process group also involves: (1) “controlling changes and recommending corrective or preventive action in anticipation of possible problems”; (2) monitoring the ongoing project activities against the project management plan and the project performance baseline”; and (3) influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control and configuration management so only approved changes are implemented” (page 57).
5. Your boss asks you to describe five organizational management practices that could adversely impact the organization’s ability to monitor/control project performance and explain how the impact occurs.
 
Other Related Questions:

6. Which of the following is displayed as an S-curve?
A. Funding requirements.
B. Cost estimates.
C. Expenditures to date.
D. Cost baseline.
 
7. With respect to the process for developing a cost baseline, all of the following statements are true except:
A. This process assigns cost estimates for expected future operating costs.
B. The cost baseline is the time-phased budget at completion for the project.
C. This process aggregates the estimated costs of project activities.
D. The cost baseline will be used to measure variances and future project performance.
 
8. Which of the following might require re-baselining of the cost baseline?
A. Revised cost estimates
B. Budget updates
C. Corrective action
D. Updates to the cost management plan
 
Scenario:

You’ve volunteered to make bird houses, at your own expense and on your own time, to be offered for sale at your daughter’s high school fair to raise money for new sports equipment. You have three different designs in mind. You estimate the first design will require about $5 in material cost and about two hours of work. The second design is a little more elaborate and will require about $10 in material cost and three hours of work. The last design, more elaborate yet, will require about $15 in material cost and four and a half hours of work.
There are about 5 weeks remaining until the school fair. You figure you can safely work an average of between 35 and 40 hours per week (week day nights and weekends) and you only have $600 available to complete the project. After doing some expected value calculations, you conclude the best product mix is 25 birdhouses using the first design, 20 birdhouses using the second design, and 15 birdhouses using the third design. You develop a construction plan as follows:

9. Calculate the planned budget for each week of the project and for the total project. 
 
10. At the end of week 2, you look at your actual progress and find the following:

Calculate Earned Value (EV) for the first two weeks of the project and the project to-date.
 
11. Is the project ahead of schedule, on schedule, or behind schedule? What EVM information are you using to make this assessment and why?

12. Is the project over budget, under budget, or on budget? What EVM information are you using to make this assessment and why?
 
13. Assuming you continue working as you are without making any changes to your processes or materials, what is the forecast of total project cost? Will you exceed your total available funds?
 
14. Assuming you continue working as you are without making any changes to your processes or materials, what is the Variance at Completion (VAC)?
 
15. At the end of week 3 you discover you that SV is still positive but SPI is 0.95. What does this mean?